Atherosclerotic lesions, which limit or obstruct coronary blood flow, are the major cause of ischemic heart disease related mortality, resulting in 500,000-600,000 deaths annually. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) to open the obstructed artery was performed in over 550,000 patients in the U.S. and 945,000+ patients worldwide in 1996 (Lemaitre et al., 1996). A major limitation of this technique is the problem of post-PTCA closure of the vessel, both immediately after PTCA (acute occlusion) and in the long term (restenosis): 30% of patients with subtotal lesions and 50% of patients with chronic total lesions will go on to restenosis after angioplasty. Additionally, restenosis is a significant problem in patients undergoing saphenous vein bypass graft. The mechanism of acute occlusion appears to involve several factors and may result from vascular recoil with resultant closure of the artery and/or deposition of blood platelets along the damaged length of the newly opened blood vessel followed by formation of a fibrin/red blood cell thrombus.
Restenosis after angioplasty is a more gradual process and involves initial formation of a subcritical thrombosis with release from adherent platelets of cell derived growth factors with subsequent proliferation of intimal smooth muscle cells and local infiltration of inflammatory cells contributing to vascular hyperplasia. It is important to note that multiple processes, among those including thrombosis, cell proliferation, cell migration and inflammation each seem to contribute to the restenotic process.
In the U.S., a 30-50% restenosis rate translates to 120,000-200,000 U.S. patients at risk from restenosis. If only 80% of such patients elect repeat angioplasty (with the remaining 20% electing coronary artery bypass graft) is added to the cost of coronary artery bypass graft for the remaining 20%, the total cost for restenosis easily reaches into billions of dollars. Thus, successful prevention of restenosis could result not only in significant therapeutic benefit but also in significant health care savings.
While the exact mechanism for restenosis is still uncertain, the general aspects of the restenosis process have been identified:                1) In the normal arterial wall, smooth muscle cells (SMC) proliferate at a low rate (<0.1%/day). SMC in vessel wall exists in a ‘contractile’ phenotype characterized by 80-90% of the cell cytoplasmic volume occupied with the contractile apparatus. Endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and free ribosomes are few and located in the perinuclear region. Extracellular matrix surrounds SMC and is rich in heparin-like glycosylaminoglycans which are believed to be responsible for maintaining SMC in the contractile phenotypic state (Campbell and Campbell, 1985).        2) Upon pressure expansion of an intracoronary balloon catheter during angioplasty, smooth muscle cells within the arterial wall become injured, initiating a thrombotic and inflammatory response. Cell derived growth factors such as platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), thrombin, etc., released from platelets (i.e., PDGF) adhering to the damaged arterial luminal surface, invading macrophages and/or leukocytes, or directly from SMC (i.e., bFGF) provoke a proliferation and migratory response in medial SMC. These cells undergo a phenotypic change from the contractile phenotype to a ‘synthetic’ phenotype characterized by only few contractile filament bundles but extensive rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi and free ribosomes. Proliferation/migration usually begins within 1-2 days post-injury and peaks at 2 days in the media, declining thereafter (Campbell and Campbell, 1987; Clowes and Schwartz, 1985).        3) Daughter synthetic cells migrate to the intimal layer of arterial smooth muscle and continue to proliferate and begin to secrete significant amounts of extracellular matrix proteins. Proliferation, migration and inflammation continue until the damaged luminal endothelial layer regenerates at which time proliferation slows within the intima, usually within 7-14 days postinjury. The further increase in intimal thickening that occurs over the next 3-6 months is due primarily to an increase in extracellular matrix rather than cell number. Thus, SMC migration and proliferation is an acute response to vessel injury while intimal hyperplasia is a more chronic response. (Liu et al., 1989).        4) Simultaneous with local proliferation and migration, inflammatory cells adhere to the site of vascular injury. Within 3-7 days post injury, luminal adherent cells decline due to migration of inflammatory to the deeper layers of the vessel wall. In animal models employing either balloon injury or stent implantation, inflammatory cells may persist at the site of vascular injury for at least 30 days (Tanaka et al., 1993; Edelman et al., 1998). Inflammatory cells therefore are present and may contribute to both the acute and chronic phases of restenosis.        
Numerous agents have been examined for presumed antiproliferative actions in restenosis and have shown some activity in experimental animal models. Some of the agents which have been shown to successfully reduce the extent of intimal hyperplasia in animal models include: heparin and heparin fragments (Clowes, A. W. and Karnovsky M., Nature, 265: 25-26, 1977; Guyton, J. R. et al., Circ. Res., 46: 625-634, 1980; Clowes, A. W. and Clowes, M. M., Lab. Invest. 52: 611-616, 1985; Clowes, A. W. and Clowes, M. M., Circ. Res. 58: 839-845, 1986; Majesky et al., Circ Res. 61: 296-300, 1987; Snow et al., Am. J. Pathol. 137: 313-330, 1990; Okada, T. et al., Neurosurgery 25: 92-98, 1989), colchicine (Currier, J. W. et al., Circulation 80: II-66, 1989, taxol (Sollott, S. J. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 95: 1869-1876, 1995), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (Powell, J. S. et al., Science, 245: 186-188, 1989), angiopeptin (Lundergan, C. F. et al., Am. J. Cardiol. 17(Suppl. B): 132B-136B, 1991), cyclosporin A (Jonasson, L. et. al., Proc. Natl., Acad. Sci., 85: 2303, 1988), goat-anti-rabbit PDGF antibody (Ferns, G. A. A., et al., Science 253: 1129-1132, 1991), terbinafine (Nemecek, G. M. et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Thera. 248: 1167-1174, 1989), trapidil (Liu, M. W. et al., Circulation 81: 1089-1093, 1990), tranilast (Fukuyama, J. et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 318: 327-332, 1996), interferon-gamma (Hansson, G. K. and Holm, J., Circulation 84: 1266-1272, 1991), rapamycin (Marx, S. O. et al., Circ. Res. 76: 412-417, 1995), steroids (Colburn, M. D. et al., J. Vasc. Surg. 15: 510-518, 1992), see also Berk, B. C. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 17: 111B-117B 1991, ionizing radiation (Weinberger, J. et al., Int. J. Rad. Onc. Biol. Phys. 36: 767-775, 1996), fusion toxins (Farb, A. et al., Circ. Res. 80: 542-550, 1997) antisense oligonucleotides (Simons, M. et al., Nature 359: 67-70, 1992) and gene vectors (Chang, M. W. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 96: 2260-2268, 1995). Antiproliferative action on SMC in vitro has been demonstrated for many of these agents, including heparin and heparin conjugates, taxol, tranilast, colchicine, ACE inhibitors, fusion toxins, antisense oligonucleotides, rapamycin and ionizing radiation. Thus, agents with diverse mechanisms of SMC inhibition may have therapeutic utility in reducing intimal hyperplasia.
However, unlike animal models, attempts in human angioplasty patients to prevent restenosis by systemic pharmacologic means have thus far been unsuccessful. Neither aspirin-dipyridamole, ticlopidine, anticoagulant therapy (acute heparin, chronic warfarin, hirudin or hirulog), thromboxane receptor antagonism nor steroids have been effective in preventing restenosis, although platelet inhibitors have been effective in preventing acute reocclusion after angioplasty (Mak and Topol, 1997; Lang et al., 1991; Popma et al., 1991). Additionally, the 7E3 humanized monoclonal antibody fragment to the platelet GP IIb/IIIa receptor is still under study but has not shown promising results for the reduction in restenosis following angioplasty and stenting. Other agents, which have also been unsuccessful in the prevention of restenosis, include the calcium channel antagonists, prostacyclin mimetics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, serotonin receptor antagonists, and antiproliferative agents. These agents must be given systemically, however, and attainment of a therapeutically effective dose may not be possible; antiproliferative (or anti-restenosis) concentrations may exceed the known toxic concentrations of these agents so that levels sufficient to produce smooth muscle inhibition may not be reached (Mak and Topol, 1997; Lang et al., 1991; Popma et al., 1991).
Additional clinical trials in which the effectiveness for preventing restenosis of dietary fish oil supplements or cholesterol lowering agents has been examined have shown either conflicting or negative results so that no pharmacological agents are as yet clinically available to prevent post-angioplasty restenosis (Mak and Topol, 1997; Franklin and Faxon, 1993; Serruys, P. W. et al., 1993). Recent 920 observations suggest that the antilipid/antioxident agent, probucol may be useful in preventing restenosis but this work requires confirmation (Tardif et al., 1997; Yokoi, et al., 1997). Probucol is presently not approved for use in the United States and a 30-day pretreatment period would preclude its use in emergency angioplasty. Additionally, application of ionizing radiation has shown significant promise in reducing or preventing restenosis after angioplasty in patients with stents (Teirstein et al., 1997). Currently, however, the most effective treatments for restenosis are repeat angioplasty, atherectomy or coronary artery bypass grafting, because no therapeutic agents currently have US Federal Regulatory Agency (FDA) approval for use for the prevention of post-angioplasty restenosis.
Unlike systemic pharmacologic therapy, stents have proven useful in partially preventing restenosis. Stents, are balloon-expandable slotted metal tubes (usually, but not limited to, stainless steel), which, when expanded within the lumen of an angioplastied coronary artery, provide structural support to the arterial wall. This support is helpful in maintaining vessel lumen patency. In two randomized clinical trials, stents increased angiographic success after PTCA, by increasing minimal lumen diameter and reducing, (but not eliminating,) the incidence of restenosis at 6 months (Serruys et al., 1994; Fischman et al., 1994).
Additionally, in a preliminary trial, heparin coated stents appear to possess the same benefit of reduction in stenosis diameter at follow-up as was observed with non-heparin coated stents. Heparin coating also appears to have the added benefit of producing a reduction in sub-acute thrombosis after stent implantation (Serruys et al., 1996). Thus, 1) sustained mechanical expansion of a stenosed coronary artery with a stent has been shown to provide some measure of restenosis prevention, and 2) coating of stents with heparin has demonstrated both the feasibility and the clinical usefulness of delivering drugs locally, at the site of injured tissue.
Post-angioplasty restenosis is a multifactoral process that involves numerous interactive mechanisms. This means that effective prevention of restenosis may not be feasible with agents possessing a single mechanism of action; positive therapeutic results may be best achieved through application of several agents with differing therapeutic targets. Thus, potential therapeutic benefit could be found with the co-delivery of agents with different mechanisms of action targeting different components of the restenosis process.